An Army officer appears to have crashed one Black Hawk helicopter, then run to another that he subsequently crashed, triggering a large explosion and killing himself, according to the service's investigation into a 2022 incident — parts of which were obtained by Military.com. Investigators ruled the death a suicide.
Just before 2 a.m. on March 30, 2022, emergency crews swiftly responded to a crashed helicopter at a Fort Stewart, Georgia, airfield. While assessing the damages and frantically searching for casualties, fire crews heard a second aircraft explode.
The next day, the Army said Capt. James Bellew, 26, had died in the incident, but declined at the time to provide further details about what had happened or say if he had taken his own life.
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According to redacted sections of the investigation released on Wednesday to Military.com as part of a public records request, Bellew made “casual” inquiries the day before the crashes on whether a soldier's family would receive life insurance after a suicide and whether a family would be held financially liable for damages to Army equipment. Investigators said Bellew's roommates, whose names were redacted, also said that Bellew had asked whether “someone could access an aircraft alone without anyone noticing.”
Early on the morning of March 30, air traffic controllers called for…
